Blasting bridge for oil wells



Sept. 24, 1940. x. N. CLARK 2,216,067

BLASTING BRIDGE FOR OIL WELLS Filed July l2, 1939 :I v 6 f l t :M555 l'fggfqji 4. ii ii 'I lei El INVENTOR Patented Sept. 24, 1940 UNITEDSTATS orric 9 Claims.

The invention relates to bridges for bridging ,v

above a shot in an oil well, and has for its object to provide a pliablerestricted material container within a cylindrical member and adapted tobe lowered into the well in a position above a torpedo to a :formationto be blasted and means for removing the restricting cylinder from thepliable receptacle for allowing the pliable receptacle to expand intoengagement with the wall of the well under the iniiuence of mud, sand oruid within the pliable receptacle, for restricting the force of theblast to the place desired and against loss of force upwardly throughthe well.

A further object is to provide latching means for holding the pliablebag within the cylinder during the lowering operation and for raisingthe cylinder from the bag and allowing the bag to expand when thetorpedo is properly positioned for the blasting operation.

A further object is to provide the pliable expansible bag with a plateat its lower end on which the torpedo bail is suspended and the plate,with an upwardly extending rod, slidablymounted in an upper plate on thebag and adapted to be attached to the shooters line for holding the bagwithin the cylinder.

A further object is to provide the shootersline with a branch lineconnected to the bail of the bag receiving cylinder so that when theshooters line is unhooked from the rod and pulled upwardly the cylinderwill be pulled from the bag and the bag will expand into bindingengagement with the wall of the well for the blasting operation.

A further object is to form the bag from a pleated thin material whichwill easily expand.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown inthe drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes inthe precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional View through a conventionalform of oil well, showing the device with the suspended torpedo beinglowered therein.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l, but showiig the shooters lineunhooked, and the cylinder partially removed from the expansible bag forbridging the hole.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure l, but show- (Cl. ISG-13) ing thecylinder entirely removed from the bag and the expansible bag in closebinding engagement with the wall of the well.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the expansible bag.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the upper bag plate showingthe lling openingstherein and the guiding means for the plate on the rod.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral I designates the wall of the wellformation to be 10 blasted and 2 a conventional form of well casingextending into ythe hole.

Heretofore various kinds of bridge members have been provided forconfining the force of the blast to the formation to be blasted andprel5 f venting the upward loss of this force. In the present device thebridge member comprises a pliable expansible bag 3, which may be filledwith mud, sand or water if desired and is preferably formed from fabric,pleated as shown to allow the expansible action thereof when the. bag isallowed to expand under the gravity flow of the material therein,clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. The lower end of the expansible bag 3is provided with a plate 4, to which is secured g5 the lower end of themag by means of a band 5. Plate 4 is preferably provided with downwardlyextending lugs E, extending beyond the periphery of the plate forpreventing the plate catching on uneven wall surfaces. Secured to the 30upper end of the bag 3 by means of a bandl 1 is a plate 8 having aplurality ef filing openings 9 therein through which mud, sand or watermay be passed for lling the bag before lowering the same into the well.This lling operation 35 is preferably done when the bag is within thecylinder on the derrick platform.

The torpedo I0 is suspended below the bridge by means of a bail IIdetachably connected at I2 to the under side of the plate 4 as clearly40 shown in Figures l, 2 and 3. Rigidly connected at I3 to the upperside of the lower plate 4 is an upwardly extending rod I4, which extendsthrough the bag 3 and through the rigid cylinder I5, and the rod I4 atits upper end is slid- 45 ably mounted between the ngers I5 of the plate8.

The fingers I5 are sharpened or reduced where they engage the rod I4,thereby reducing the contacting surfaces so that the rod will not 50stick incident to grains of sand, mud or the like, there being no closedbearing in which the particles can collect.

After the parts are assembled on the platform of the derrick theshooters hook I6 is hooked 55 in the eye Il of the rod I4 and the shortbranch line I8 from the shooters line I9 is connected to the bail 20 ofthe removable cylinder l5, and the whole assembly is then lowered intothe well as shown in Figure l. When the torpedo Ill reaches theformation I to be blasted, the shooters line I9 and its hook are loweredto the dotted line position shown in Figure 2 for releasing the hookfrom the eye Il and then an upward pull is imparted on the cylinder lthrough the medium of the branch line I8 which pulls the cylinder fromthe bag and allows the restricted bag to expand outwardly by the fluidmaterial therein, clearly'shown in Figures 2 and 3. The cylinder israised from the well, and then a further bridging operation on top ofthe expanded bag is applied. 'I'his further bridging operation may be inthe form of sand poured into the well or water for building up a c01-umn above the bag for resisting the upward force of the blast andconfining the full force of the last to the formation I. It is possiblewhere the hole has no uid at the time of running the torpedoes. the bagmay be made of a rubberized material and water used in the bag insteadof sand or mud, however if there is fluid in the hole. the materialplaced in the bag must be a heavier one such as sand or drilling mud.

From the above it will be seen that a bridging device is provided forbridging above shots in an oil well, which is simple in construction andone wherein a uid or flowing material is used in an expanding bag forplugging the hole above the shot. l

The invention having been (set forth what is claimed as new and usefulis:

l. A well bridge comprising an expansible, longitudinally collapsibleclosed pre-filled chambered member having a gravity actuated iluidmaterial therein for expanding the chambered member into engagement witha well wall.

'2. A well bridge comprising an expansible, longitudinally collapsiblepliable member having a closed pre-filled chamber therein', a gravityactuated fluid material within the chambered member and adapted toexpand the chambered member into engagement with a well wall uponlongitudinal collapsing of the pliable member, means for lowering thechambered pliable member into a well to a predetermined position andmeans for maintaining the chambered pliable member in contractedcondition during the lowering operation. said last named means alsoforming means for allowing the chambered pliable rnembel` to expand intoengagement with the wall of the well.

3. A well bridge comprising an expansible, longitudinally collapsibleclosed pliable chambered member having a gravity actuated fluid materialtherein for expanding the chambered pliable member within a well uponlongitudinal collapsing cf the pliable member, said chambered pliablemember being slidably disposed within a cylindrical member of smallerdiameter than the well and means whereby the cylindrical member may beremoved from the chambered pliable member when they reach apredetermined position for allowing the gravity actuated uid material toexpand the chambered pliable member into engagement with the wall of awell.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 including discs carried by the upperand lower ends of the expansible chambered pliable member, a rod carriedby the lower disc and extending axially through the chambered pliablemember and the other disc, detachable lowering means connected to therod, a connection between the lowering means and the cylindrical member,said connecting means forming means whereby the cylindrical member maybe raised from the chambered pliable member when the lowering means isdetached from the rod.

5. A torpedo bridge for oil wells comprising an expansible fluidoperated chambered member, a cylindrical restricting member around theexpansible member, a lowering cable connected to the expansible memberand maintaining said expansible member within the restricting memberuntil the restricting member is raised, said lowering cable beingdetachably connected to the expansible member, a connection between therestricting member and the lowering cable, said connection forming meanswhereby when the lowering cable is detached from the expansible member,the restricting member may be raised for allowing the expansible memberto expand into engagement with the wall of a well.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 wherein the expansible member isprovided with a lower disc, means for attaching a torpedo to said lowerdisc, an upper apertured disc carried by the expansible member and a rodconnected to the lower disc and extending upwardly through theexpansible member and upper disc and connected to the lowering line.

7. A device as set forth in claim 5 wherein the lower end of theexpansible member is provided with a torpedo supporting disc forming abottom for the expansible member, downwardly extending guide lugscarried by said disc, an apertured lling disc carried by the upper endof the expansible member, a rod carried by the lower disc, said rodextending upwardly through the expansible member and restricting memberand detachably connected to the lowering line, said yupper disc having aplurality of arms, said arms terminating in edge bearing engagement withsaid rod. l

8. A well bridge comprising an expansible longitudinally collapsiblemember adapted to receive therein a gravity actuated expanding material,a restricting sleeve within which the ex-4 pansible member is housed asit is lowered into a well and means for removing said restricting sleevefrom the expansible member when the sleeve and expansible member reach apredetermined position in a well.

9. A device as set forth in claim 8 including kmeans whereby a torpedomay be supported from the lower end of the expansible member below therestricting sleeve.

ISAAC N. CLARK.

